I've been playing COD and Halo with plain xbox headset for most of my life and I recently started using my BenQ XL for my xbox which has no sound. I've been looking at headsets for the 360 and the A40 was the first one I stumbled up on. Are they worth the money? Should I wait until black friday or something. You guys thing they will have a sale on these or something. I highly doubt it

Since I've moved away from consoles completely, the headset that first came to mind is the SteelSeries Siberia V2, as it is also PC compatible. I know they're low-end compared to the Astro's, but you don't seem very set on the A40's as of yet, so I'll just throw the SteelSeries headset in as an option. Here's a comparison between the two that I found. I did NOT write this.

First off, the headset itself. The Astro A40s are very comfortable, they have a nice design that encompasses my very large ears, which makes it very good for extended play. The headset feels well built, and I like how the mic is detachable. In comparison, The SteelSeries headset is significantly lighter, so it rests better on your head, and I am personally a fan of the leather ear cups, which is merely a personal preference. However, they do feel more cheaply made, but not to the point where it would be a cause for concern.

The microphones are very comparable; Both are very clear and crisp, so you won't have anyone complaining at you. HOWEVER, the astro a40 2013 edition features a new mixamp, that has quite a few problems already. The mixamp has noise cancelling that I would consider too harsh, and sometimes cuts off sound before you're even done with a sentence. The mic used to be really low volume until they released the firmware update, but even then, the mixamp still dilutes the clearness of the mic, I find. Hopefully another firmware update will fix this, because by its own the mic is fantastic.

At this point, I was leaning towards the SteelSeries and was getting ready to return the Astros, but then I did a sound comparison test and that's where the Astro blows SteelSeries out of the water. The audio coming out of the A40s is leagues ahead of the SteelSeries headset, and with multiple EQ options available on the mixamp, I think most would agree. The Siberia v2 seems to scoop the mids out to try to provide a clear sound, but the Astro has the full spectrum and still sounds much better than the SteelSeries.

In conclusion, these are both fantastic headsets; The SteelSeries are very lightweight, very comfortable, and has a great microphone, at the loss of audio quality. The Astros, however, have a slightly heavier feel when wearing them, a few microphone issues I wish they had fixed on the mixamp before they even released the new edition, but much, MUCH better audio quality.

Everyone values things differently. If your live for playing games and sounds is important to you than go for it. I have and astro amp and use it with some really nice head phones and I love it. I have the money though and I love sound. I have little kids that destroy everything and I don't have a big house so I can't have a surround sound system and a nice TV.

I have a pair of Audio-Technica AD700 that I love and are amazing but recently I got a pair of A40s to use with my PS3 and 360 and they are so good I use them for my PC now too. For me their best feature is how comfy they are compared to almost the headphones I've used in the past. The mix-amp is pretty cool too, it allows to change the game and voice chat audio on the fly which is really handy.

I end up picking these up and love them. Very comfortable and work for their purpose. Luckily, newegg had a 20 percent off sale on these to make them 199.99 so I had to take the chance and pick them up. I doubt they would get any cheaper than that even with black friday/cyber monday

They are not worth $250, but they are a good gaming headset. The A50 is a lot nicer for only a little bit more (though I didn't pay anywhere near full price for the pair I have). Since headsets are a luxury to me (I have really, really good headphones for not-gaming), I wait for sales.